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Abstract

I present a brief overview of the paternalistic policies that are
currently promoted, and then suggest that one broad area has been
overlooked: individuals’ interest in behaving in a way that reflects
their moral values. Paternalists want to promote individual welfare,
generally construed subjectively: welfare is a function of that
person’s own goals. Most paternalists have focused on relatively
material goals, including good health and financial success. If we
examine the idea of subjective welfare more closely we will see that
we have other goals as well: most people have moral values, and
moral values that are not purely egoistic. People make mistakes in
the pursuit of their moral goals that are in some cases very similar
to the mistakes they make in the pursuit of material welfare, and
similar interventions are permissible.